Crystal Figurine

Crystal figurines are exquisite statuettes carved by master artisans and magically brought to life, usually to serve as guards or assassins. Clear ones are cut from rock crystal, a very clear quartz, or from diamond; colored ones from emerald, amethyst, garnet or sometimes rose quartz. Most take the shape of spiders, though ants, scorpions and other insect forms exist. All are beautiful, if heavily stylized by the flat faces and sharp angles of the stone.

They understand their maker's language but never speak, and they ignore everyone except their master.

Like all figurines, they fight only at their master's command, slashing with keen-edged facets for 1d8 points of damage. Weapons below +1 cannot harm them, and edged weapons deal only half damage. They are immune to mind- and life-affecting spells and to electricity, and take half damage from fire and cold. Shatter, shout or crystalbrittle destroys one unless it saves vs. spell.

Crystal's resonance makes them natural spellcasters: once per day each, it can use rainbow pattern, chromatic orb and hypnotic pattern. Any light spell aimed at one, from dancing lights or continual light to prismatic spray or color spray, reflects back on the caster.

They usually guard valuable places or things and work best where they can glint sun or torch glare into the faces of anyone approaching. Some are hidden among jewelry or in treasure vaults; others are sent as gifts to people their makers hate. Told to stay motionless until the new owner falls asleep, the figurine then strikes, and after the kill it creeps home to its creator, often carrying whatever valuables the corpse had.

Their limited intelligence lets them use simple tactics and follow fairly complex orders of a few sentences, up to 50 words. When their instructions do not cover a situation, they think for themselves and improvise.

An expert must cut each one from one solid stone, usually over two months at a cost of 10,000 gp. The enchantment then calls for limited wish, polymorph any object and the three spells it will later cast: rainbow pattern, hypnotic pattern and chromatic orb.

Carving one from diamond is possible but very difficult, doubling both time and cost. A diamond figurine has AC 2, is immune to edged weapons, and suffers half damage from other melee blows. Any weapon that hits it has a 20% chance to break, minus 5% per magical plus, while mundane weapons break every time they connect.